Tuesday, August 01, 2017

MARSOC and Army Rangers prepping for a raid into hell?

Thanks to Overwatch DVA for the link!

via Zero Hedge.

According to a report in South Korea's Munhwa Ilbo newspaper, which cites an unidentified government official, South Korea's military is preparing a "surgical strike" scenario that could wipe out North Korean command and missile and nuclear facilities following an order by S.Korea's President Moon Jae-in. Munhwa adds that the military is to report the scenario to presidential office after completing it as early as August 1.

As the report details, South Korea's Special Forces are preparing a special strike op which would be launched in response to President Moon Jae-In's order to remove the North Korean leadership in case of emergency. This operation is taking place in addition to separate preparations currently conducted by the country's military forces.

Targeted by the surgical strike would be North Korea's core facilities. As part of the operation, South Korea's forces would launch Taurus cruise missiles from F-15 fighters, which would be able to strike all key facilities in Pyongyang and can also strike the office of the Chairman of the Labor Party, Kim Jong Eun, at the Pyongyang Labor Party headquarters.

The newspaper also adds that the South Korean military's own strike-hit scenarios include plans to create a special mission brigade of 1,000 to 2,000 at the end of this year with plans to eliminate war leadership figures such as Kim Jong Un and paralyze warfare command facilities in case of emergency. The military authorities have already commenced the CH-47D (Chinook) performance improvement project to transport these special mission brigades

According to the military authorities on March 31, the South Korean military's own strike-hit scenario is being drafted jointly by the Strategic Planning Division of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Ministry of National Defense, rather than the National Security Office of Cheong Wa Dae, and the "Nuclear Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) It was known as the core department. The nuclear and WMD response centers will take on a major role in the early response, and will be activated in response to the North Korean nuclear and missile threats once they cross a critical "Red Line" threshold.

I have to give HQMC a bit of credit on this one. They've tried there best to bring back MARSOC a bit into the fold but of course the organization has resisted. Too bad.

SOCOM needs adult supervision and unfortunately they've developed a bureaucracy that isn't about warfighting but more about publicity, image and budget.

That will get guys killed.

Even worse?

They know that the focus is slowly but surely turning from the Middle East. Conventional forces will be ascendant unless they can claw out a future in the wars of the future. The Mega-City fight they've been proposing is NOT gaining traction (thank God!!!!) so the next frontier is to make themselves war winners in these type standoffs.

Russia's success in the civil war against Ukraine isn't helping matters. I've heard whispers that some believe that our approach should mirror what we've seen there and it looks like that might be somewhat in play here.

It wouldn't shock me one bit if they already aren't running missions into N. Korea. Prepping the battlefield as they say.

But this report we see today is shocking. I've mused about a raid into hell being led by MARSOC and Army Rangers but I thought it was pure fiction. How many battalions of each would you need to successfully decapitate their govt? How many more would you need to successfully seize the nukes?

The only thing I've ever heard that rivals this madness is a raid to seize Iranian or Pakistani nukes (I have heard from extremely credible people that there ARE plans to do exactly that).

But back on task.

If this turns into a "Joint Special Operations" raid then we could be looking at an all hands on deck situation...a Special Ops Olympics from hell.

I'm talking to even make it possible you would probably need USAF Pacific and almost all their assets...US Navy Pacific would need to beef up its air arm with at least a couple if not more carriers (bringing the total to about 6...I'm including land and carrier based aircraft)...USMC Pacific would probably see half the Marine Corps' airpower deployed along with the 160th, a couple of US Army Combat Aviation Brigades and a few dedicated USMC HMLA Squadrons dedicated solely to provide rotary air support to these guys.

As far as SOCOM operators (I'll call them warriors from this point on) I think the entire US Army Ranger Regiment, every swinging dick in MARSOC, half the available SEAL Teams...I have no idea how many Special Forces Detachments all setup to make this run.

I'm just arm chair quarterbacking but I'd bet we'd be seeing something like 50% casualty rate even if things work perfectly.

I have no idea how this would work out except that it will be bloody.

This could make or break US Special Ops. If it works but casualties are prohibitive then policy makers will finally be shaken out of the belief that SOCOM warriors can solve all their problems (even though SOCOM leadership should have been pointing that out all along). If it fails then we could see moves to push SOCOM back into the services.

Either way even with token support from S. Korea and Japan it's gonna be a US affair. It's gonna be US blood spilled on Korean soil and it's not gonna be pretty no matter how it works out.

I've seen some SOCOM leadership and they appear arrogant as hell. I've seen some MARSOC guys, some Army Rangers that seemed like dazed and confused Marines that like doing silly shit! I've seen some SF guys that were cool as the other side of the pillow. Never met SEALs but haven't liked what I've seen in the press but heard that for the most part they're chilled as fuck.

If this comes to pass then God bless them all and good luck. They're gonna need it if my musing is correct.

Side Note. Add this to the war hammers beating on the peninsula. This news is coming from S. Korea...not the Pentagon. Many have said that when the S. Koreans get nervous then they'd start paying attention. Well guess what. The S. Koreans are sounding nervous!